Finding a suitable mountain bike fork that best suits your riding style is very important especially when you customize the bike based on your preference. If you are on a tight budget and want a lower-priced front fork, then check this article first.
Used forks are also an alternate choice, but it needs your attention to check all the internal parts. Always choose the bike fork based on the riding you do and it must perfectly fit your riding style. Riders normally would not fit Rockshox Duke in a Specialized Big Hit FSR that looks contradictory and the whole concept of downhill/freeride would be lost in the bike as well as the bike frame would get strained out, which results in lesser lifespan.
Type of Mountain Bike Forks
There are two types of forks available Coil Sprung and Air Sprung forks. Coil sprung suspension is suitable for aggressive riding style while lightweight Air sprung suspension is suitable for XC riding style. This long travel suspension is not suitable for cross-country riding style. It is only designed for downhill/freeride, 4X jump, and trail riding bikes.
Traction is the most important factor needed for any aggressive mountain bike riding and the long travel fork delivers perfect traction. Similarly, a short travel fork is classified between 80mm to 100mm of travel, which delivers a quick steering bike. This short-travel suspension is only suitable for the cross country type where there is no need for any traction.
Coil Sprung Fork
Coil Sprung fork is the most famous of all forks and is generally used for all-around bikes. This coil-sprung suspension is an ideal choice and well fits into your budget. When you customize the bike with this long travel fork it will give you enough room to fine-tune and adjust for desired riding style. The advantage of the coil-sprung front fork is it is easy to maintain and service. The major downside of this type of fork is that a steel spring inside the fork adds extra weight to the bike.
It does not mean that it is of lesser value, the extra weight means it is a tougher and strong fork usually recommended for downhill and freeride racing. If you do a lot of jumping and downhill, then this type of fork would suit you and it takes all types of punishment during trail riding. It is purposely built heavier to add enormous strength, which is extremely needed when you perform a lot of jumps, full tilt downhill, and various trail riding.
Air Sprung Fork
Air Sprung fork comes under the expensive segment and is more suitable for cross-country riding style. It is considered to be a reliable choice for XC riders who expect some adjustment in the fork. This Air sprung suspension lets you cut the weight of the suspension and instead of the coil it uses the air pressure inside. You can adjust the air pressure using a shock pump to suit your riding taste. Some Air sprung front fork is also designed to use for moderate freeride and even for medium downhill. The recent trend has made many riders use air-sprung forks for different trail riding.
Air suspension forks are getting more and more convenient these days and many manufacturers try to launch less priced Air forks. It is also designed for 4x with a well-designed jump suspension fork, which could take up big landings with less compression for stability on the platform. Medium size air suspension fork is available from 80mm – 100mm and even the most advanced air suspension is also available with rebound and compression damping adjustment up to 180mm of travel, which is very expensive.
Fork Travel Adjustment
Many long-travel forks come with travel adjustment features, which would enable you to tweak the geometry of the bike frame by reducing travel a little. By reducing the travel to little steps you can fine-tune the riding style. Sometimes you can also fully drop the travel to make the fork stiffer and shorter riding style.
Front Fork Adjustment
Preload Adjustment:
Mountain bike forks always come with factory settings and have minimum preload settings. Preload can be adjusted by just turning the cap clockwise direction, which is placed at the top of the stanchion or upper leg.
When you turn the cap for preload adjustment the spring inside the suspension is pressed down to make the fork stiffer. If you are a beginner, then there is no need to adjust the preload.
Damping Control Adjustment:
There are two types of damping control adjustments such as adjustable rebound damping control and compression damping control.
Rebound Damping Control:
Adjustable rebound damping helps to control the speed at which the fork returns to its original height after pressing. This rebound damping adjustment would also avoid the bike fork bouncing back with a clang.
The rebound adjuster is only suitable for advanced riders and beginners no need to worry about the adjustment.
Compression Damping Control:
Compression damping is the opposite to rebound, which slows down the speed at which the spring compresses and absorbs the impact. Only a few mountain bike suspensions allow the users to adjust compression damping and this feature is available with the most advanced and higher-priced suspension.
Advanced riders make use of this compression damping adjustment and they know what they are doing and they correctly tune them to try different riding styles.
The most versatile suspension enables the riders to split the compression damping into two extremes such as low speed and high speed. Low-speed compression damping would pass all the pedaling power to the bike without loss in acceleration and controls the loads like cornering and braking. High-speed compression controls high impact on the rocky trail or heavy landing.
If you would like to know more about mountain bike forks, come and check the info on our official website: https://www.trifoxbike.com/